Controlling mechanism for electric-motor vehicles.



S. S. AMDURSKY.

CONTROLLING MECHANISM'FOR ELECTRIC MOTOR VEHICLES. APPLIQATION rlLEDnEc.11.1914.

1,169,450. v Patented .13h25, 1916.

10 `l Figo@ SAMUEL S. AMDURSKY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR ELECTRIC-MOTOR VEHICLES.

tain new and useful Improvements 1n Gontrolling Mechanism forElectric-Motor Vef hicles, of which the following is a'specification.

v This invention relates to the vcontrollingmechanism .employed `inconnection with electrically driven vehicles.

The object of the invention is to provide against the waste of electriccurrent, or the danger ofinjury to the electric motor of'a vehicle,which occurs when the controller 1n such a vehicle isleft in a positionto enerbrake. On the other gize the motor,

at the same time that the brake is applied to the vehicle. When anelectric vehicle is brought to rest by the application of the brake, thecontroller should obviously be returned to neutral or off position fromany position in which it may have been set. for forward driving, sinceany flow of current through the motor at such a time would be wasted,and would subject the motor to danger of overheating, as well asinterfering with the action of the hand, when the vehicle has beenbrought to rest and the brake is still applied, the controller shouldnot be moved from neutral position to driving position, since in such acase the same wasteful and dangerous conditions will arise. .To insure aproper operation of the controllerl at such times, notwithstanding anycarelessness on the part of the operator of the vehicle, I propose'toemploy, in connectionV with an electric controller of any ordinary orsuitable form, means operating automatically, when the brake is applied,to return the conltroller to neutral position; andI further propose toemploy means operating automatically, so long as the brake is applied,to prevent the controller from being moved from neutral position to aforward-driving position. v A

In the accompanying drawings z-Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, afront-elevation and a side-elevation, partly in vertical section, ofcontrolling-mechanism embodying the present invention.

The invention is lillustrated as embodied.

in mechanism comprising van electric controller of ordinary form,provided with the usual drum 5 carrying movable contact-de- Specicationof Letters lfatent.

Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

Application led December 17, 1914. i Serial No. 877,68'7.

vices 6, which coperate with fixed contactsprings 7 these parts beingemployed in the usual manner to control the connections between thestorage-.battery and the motor of the vehicle. The drum 5 is mounted ona shaft 8, journaled in the casing of'the controller, and provided witha lever 9 by which the drum may be manually operated, the lever beingprovided, at its upper end, with a handle 10, and being guided in aslotted segmental plate 11.

The controller yis shown as provided with a retaining-device, ofordinary form, for retaining the drum 5 in any operative position inwhich it may be left by the user. For this purpose a segmental plate 12is fixed to the shaft 8, `and the notched edge of this plate is engagedby a roller 13, carried by a lever 14 pivoted on the. casing of thecontroller. A spring 15, seated upon a bearing-lug 16 on thecasing,engages the lever 14 and tends to hold the roller 13 inyieldingengagement withv one or another of the notches in the plate 12, butyields readily to movement of in retracted or inoperative position by aspring 19. The arm 17 is provided with a combined pedal andretaining-device 44 of well .known form.

The connections between the brake-mechanisrn and the controllercomprise. a bellcrank lever 20, of which one arm is pivoted to the rod18, while the other arm is pivoted to a rod 21 which slides through anopening in the bearing-block 16. In order that the controller may bereleased when the brake is applied, preparatory to its automatic returnto neutralposition, the rod 21 isprovided with a slot 22, coperatingwith a pin 23 carried by an arm 24 on the lever 14. When the brake isapplied, as shown in Fig. 2, the lever 20'is rocked and the -rod 21raised, hus causing the pin 23 to be engaged and raised, whereby thelever 14 is l.swung to the left, as shown, engaged from the notchedplate 12, thereby releasing the mechanism by which the drum 5is'actuated.

The return-movement of the controller to and theroller 13 is disneutralposition may be produced by means noid-magnet 25 is mounted within thecase of the controller, and provided with a movable core or armature 26.rlwo racks 27 and 28 are fixed to the core 26, so as to coperate with amutilated gear 29, whichis fixed upon a countershaft 30 journaledhorizontally beneath the controller-shaft 8. The racks are guided intheir vertical movements by flanges on opposite sides of the gear 29. Apinion 31, also fixed on the shaft I30, meshes with a se mentalv gear 32fixed on the controller-sha t 8.

wWhen the controller-lever 9 is moved in eitherl direction from theneutral position shown in the drawings, the gears 32 and 31. act torotate the countershaft in one direction or the other, thus causing theteeth of the gea! 29 to engage one or the other of the racks 27, 28 andraise the racks and the core 26. After the parts have been moved in thismanner, if the solenoid be energized it acts to pull the core and theracks downwardly again, thus rocking the gears 29, 3l and 32 back tonormal position and returning the controller-drum to its neutral or 0H'position.

In order that current may be employed, for the foregoing purpose, onlywhen necessary, the energizing circuit of the solenoid 25 is controlledin accordance with the movements of the brake-mechanism. The solenoid isshown as connected, through wires 34, 35 and 36, with the main leads orconductors connected with an electric battery 33, which may be thestorage-battery which supplies the current by which the vehicle is,driven. The wires 34 and 36 are connected with fixed contact-devices 37and 38, which coperate with a movable contact-member 39 mounted upon thelever 14. When the brake is not in use, and the lever 14 and roller 13are performing their normal function of a detent-device for thecontroller, the contactmember 39 is out of engagement with the contact38, and the solenoid-circuit is open. When the brake is applied,however. the contact-member 39 connects the contacts 37 and 38, and thesolenoid is energized and returns the controller to the neutralposition.

Since the vehicle may be left standing, with the brake applied, for longperiods of time, it may be desirable to provlde means for breaking thesolenoid-circuit after the solenoid has performed its function ofreturning the controller to neutral position, so as to prevent the Wasteof battery-current. Accordingly, I have shown, diagrammatically, in thedrawings a circuit-breaker for this purpose, this circuit-breakercomprising an arm 40 and a xed contact 41 interposed 1n the wire 36. Aspring 42 normally holds the contact-arm 40 in closed-circuit position,but a lug 43 on the rack 27 is so located that when the rack has reachedits lowermost positlon the lug engages an insulated arm extending fromthe contact-arm and moves the latter to open-circuit position, as shownin Fig. 2, thus breaking the solenoid-circuit.

While I have described electromagnetic means for the purpose ofreturning the controller to neutral position, it will be apparent thatthe invention is not necessarily limited to the use of means of thatcharacter for the purpose in question.

In order to prevent the controller from bein moved from neutral positionto for- War -driving position so long as the brake is applied, I employa detent 46, which is pivoted on the casing of the controller and isnormally pressed, by aspring 47, into position to coperate with abeveled lug 45 on the detent-plate 12. The detent 46 is provided with anarm 48 which coperates with the bent upper extremity 49 of the rod 21.So long as the brake is not in operation the detent is held out ofoperative position by means of the parts 48 and 49, but whenever thebrake is applied the detent 46 is released, and when the controllerthereupon returns to neutral position the detent rides over the lug 45,and then snaps into position behind it, as shown in Fig. 2, andthereafter it is impossible to move the controller into forward-drivingposition until the brake is released.' The detent is not arranged toprevent movement of the controller to backward-driving position, sinceit may be desirable. at times, to move the controller to such positionwhile the brake is applied, in order that the motor may be used tosupplement the action of the brake in arresting the movements of thevehicle.

1. rlhe combination, with the brake-mechanism of an electric vehicle,and the speedcontrolling means manually operable independently of thebrake-mechanism, of means, connected with and controlled by thebrakemechanism, for moving the speed-controlling means automatically toneutral position when the brake is applied.

2. The combination, with the circuit-controller and the brake-mechanismof an electric vehicle, of means, connected with and controlled by saidbrake-mechanism, for moving the controller automatically to neutralposition when the brake is applied, and

for locking the controller, so long as the brake is in operation,against movement, in at least one direction, from said position.

3. The combination, with the circuit-controller and the brake-mechanismof an electric vehicle, of means for retaining the controller inoperative position; connections, between the brake-mechanism and the.retaining-means, for throwing the latter out of operation when the brakeis applied; and means for returning the controller automatically toneutral position when released from the action of the retaining-means.

4. The combination, with the circuit-controller and the brake-mechanismof an electric vehicle, of an electromagnetic device lconnected with thecontroller and adapted,

when energized, to return the controller to neutral position; a sourceof electricity; and means, actuated by the brake-mechanism, forconnecting the electromagnetic device in circuit with the source lofelectricity when the brake is applied.

5. The combination, with the controller and the brake-mechanism of anelectric vehicle, of means for retaining the controller in operativeposition; connections, between the brake-mechanism and theretainingmeans, for throwing the latter out. of operation when the brakeis applied; and means, connected with and 'controlled by thebrakemechanism, for returning the controller automatically to 'neutralposition when the brake is applied.

I In testimony whereof, I aHix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

SAMUEL s. AMDURSKY.

Witnesses: I

W. P. GRAHAM, RICH P. WHITNEY.

